Camp Blood XL

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Sep 2, 2006
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16,703
It finally arrived ... someone else's Camp Blood XL.;)

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I really like the handle on this Horton. It's smooth g10 and reminiscent of a narrow SHBM handle with just a bit of curve. Extremely comfortable, and I didn't get any "pinkie bite" from it at all.
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It's big and long, but not particularly heavy. Certainly, it's lighter than an FBM or a standard golok. I knew at once where I had to go for testing:
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It's been raining, which makes chopping more challenging ... but nothing the Camp Blood XL will mind.

I did a little foraging and found a 60ft medium-hardwood that fell about a week ago. Looked like a good subject for chopping. I peeled back the wet wood from a minor side branch and went at it:
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Jeremy's chopper bit right in with very little effort. This was the result of a half-hearted chop.

A few simple swings later:
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Really, not much of a challenge for this knife. The sweet spot is slightly dulled, no doubt by those who've swung this knife before me ... and that had no effect on its chopping ability.
 
So ... what to do?

Of course, the nice wet, green trunk of the tree!:eek:

Yes, here we finally found a challenge. About 5 medium chops and a couple of good, hard full-arm swings:
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Could not get the Camp Blood XL to really 'bite' and settle into the trunk.

So ... out comes the user NMFBM. Really, not a fair comparison -- but why not??
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Right in with one good swing.

Tried a few more hard swings with the Camp Blood:
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That's hard duty! But, finally:
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The Camp Blood did better on a drier side branch:
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All in all, I spent about 1/2 hour chopping away at both wet and dry wood. Camp Blood XL does best in the dry or semi-dry wood, where it is very reminiscent of a Busse Basic 9 (which is high praise, people!!). I think a heavier version with a wider blade would give that NMFBM a run for the money.

I should also say this: use a lanyard when chopping, please. The handle is excellent, but somewhat slippery once you start to sweat a bit (or get some rain on it). Jeremy's Camp Blood XL would take a nice, large "bite" out of your leg ... believe me.
 
Thanks OP for the review. One of great things about convex edges, especially Horton's, is they are easy to maintain.:thumbup:
 
Aftermath:
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The NMFBM and the Camp Blood XL laughed at the little bit of chopping I did. I got them a little dirty and perhaps I smeared the coatings just a little bit.

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The sweet spot has definitely worn down a bit, though it still shaves the little bit of hair left on my arm. The knife cleaned up just fine.

The Platinum Edge was mostly intact. A couple of simple swipes at printer paper revealed this:
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It will also push cut pretty easily. Not sure if you can see the push cut below -- in the middle of the paper:
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Took a bit of effort to start the push cut, but it proceeded easily.

I won't bore you with pictures of the Camp Blood XL v. melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Suffice to say, they are no challenge -- if you had to, you could use the CB XL as your kitchen knife or bush knife.

Not sure what I'll do with this beauty next, but I'm not giving it up to the next man in the pass-around quite yet!!;):thumbup:

Jeremy -- this knife is a winner.:D
 
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thanks for the review, Jaime,, the next Horton Chopper will be more of an opponent,, thanks again,, j

Well -- it was really an unfair comparison. You know how much heavier that NMFBM is!:eek:

I'm quite impressed with the Camp Blood XL. I'm going to have to have one, when you decide to 'circle around' to larger choppers again.

Here's a better picture of the final edge at the sweet spot:
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When I'm done obsessing over this fine knife, I'll use the leather strop Mr. Horton gave me to smooth the edge down a bit ... for the next lucky fellow. I don't know if I'm "manly" enough to push that Platinum Edge out of alignment (without cheating and swinging at bricks), but if I manage it I'll take a steel to it.

Those of you who only have a Horton EDC don't know what you're missing.:o
 
Aftermath:
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The NMFBM and the Camp Blood XL laughed at the little bit of chopping I did. I got them a little dirty and perhaps I smeared the coatings just a little bit.

Jeremy -- this knife is a winner.:D

Nice review OP, Thanks!
Looks like Camp Blood XL handle is shorter than NMFBM one. Would you find it a bit difficult to grab?
 
that is true,, but the knife is half the weight of the Nmfbm, just a vey different blade,, thanks for lookin... maine,,, good to see you in here,,
 
Nice review OP, Thanks!
Looks like Camp Blood XL handle is shorter than NMFBM one. Would you find it a bit difficult to grab?

Not at all!

As Jeremy has said, the CB XL is very different from the NMFBM -- I was actually very pleased to see how well it chopped against massive competition.

I have medium-sized hands, and I like both the Busse Fusion and Straight handles. I found my hand fit perfectly around the Camp's grip -- there was even a little extra room past my pinky finger.

I could cut with Jeremy's Camp Blood all day long.

One day, I'm going to get my hands on a really massive Horton chopper. On that day, my North, East, and South 40's will be in some serious trouble.:D
 
Nice review OP. The Camp Blood XL looks like a really nice knife. I like the comparison with a huge Busse as well.
 
Good review! I mean that, it was much better than most. That XL looks like a handful to say the least. I think if the blade was a little wider it really would've given the mighty NMFBM a run for its money.

Btw, nice counter top!
 
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